The present invention relates to an apparatus for the portioning and depositing of food products in form/fill/seal machines or tray sealing machines and particularly to an apparatus that provides simultaneous scaling and portioning of food products into pockets.
In the packaging industry, horizontal form/fill/seal machines are often used to package food products. During each cycle or index, pockets are simultaneously formed from a roll of film, filled with food products, evacuated and sealed. The pockets which generally range in number from one to eight are loaded during each index of the machine. The most common method of loading is by hand although machines such as an indexing conveyor, a drop chute or, in case of liquid products, a simple piston filler.
The product scaling to provide accurate weight portions is generally done before loading as a separate operation. This is particularly the case with raw meat products especially chicken. Raw chicken is extremely difficult to cut due to sinew. If one xe2x80x9cstringxe2x80x9d remains uncut, a piece of meat will hang on resulting in an off weight portion and seal contamination.
In the past, multiple outlet depositors that are designed to fill all of the pockets simultaneously have attempted simultaneous scaling and portioning. A pump such as the Vemag pump manufactured by Robert Reiser and Co., Inc. of Canton, Mass., may be used to move the food stream and a device is then used to divide the stream into particular weight portions. However, the portions must now be cut simultaneously and weight control involves another variable, the flow divider. This is a serious problem.
The state of the prior art is shown in patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,861 to Tsuruta on a Forming, Filling and Sealing Machine for Standing Pouch and U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,680 to Meile, et al on a Method and Apparatus for Forming and Hermetically Sealing Slices of Food Items. Also of interest are U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,969 to Kue and U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,664 to Williams. The prior art fails to disclose an apparatus of the type disclosed herein which simultaneously scales and portions food products into pockets.
The invention relates to a multi outlet depositor and particularly to an apparatus for the portioning and depositing of food products in form/fill/seal machines. In addition to filling the pockets of a horizontal form/fill/seal machine the device may also be used with other packaging machines such as a preformed tray-sealing machine. In this instance the trays are preformed and placed into carriers. Once the food is in the tray, the tray can be evacuated and sealed with film. The apparatus provides simultaneous scaling and positioning of food products into pockets that are then evacuated and sealed.
In addition to filling the pockets of a horizontal form/fill/seal machine the device may also be used with other packaging machines such as a preformed tray-sealing machine. In this instance the trays are preformed and placed into carriers. Once the food is in the tray, the tray can be evacuated and sealed with film.
A commercially available pump such as the previously cited Vemag by Robert Reiser and Co., Inc., which operates as a filler, portions once for each pocket to be filled. The Vemag or filler outlet is attached to a single cylindrical open manifold. The manifold has a number of outlets that correspond to positions over the pockets. A pneumatically driven cutoff knife is mounted at each outlet of the manifold.
The knives start in a down position blocking off flow from the manifold outlets. When the packaging machine indexes to its next position, a signal is sent to a programmable logic controller or PLC. The PLC starts a series of operations that comprise a first knife opening at an outlet, the Vemag pumping a single accurate portion of food product and the knife coming down and cutting off the portion cleanly. Then the next knife opens, the Vemag portions and the knife comes down and cuts off the portion cleanly. This operation continues for the remaining pockets. Once the pockets are filled, the PLC signals the packaging machine that it can index. Thus, the knives provide a single distinct and accurate portion for each pocket.
With the above multi outlet depositor, a source of error is eliminated and, because there is no restriction from a flow divider, the product integrity is improved. The product does not break down and there are larger identifiable pieces of product which is extremely desirable. Weight accuracy is also increased by a double cut with the knives, which involves a knife traveling back up for a portion of its travel after a cut and then closing again to insure that anything that has stuck to a knife will fall into a pocket.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for portioning and depositing food products in form/fill/seal machines and other food packaging machinery.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for simultaneous scaling and portioning of food products into pockets.
A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for depositing food products in pockets on a form/fill/seal machine and other food packaging machinery which portions once for each pocket to be filled.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for feeding food products through a plurality of separate manifold outlets blocked by knives which sequentially open and close in a double cut action to precisely portion the product into a series of pockets.
A more specific object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method and apparatus for depositing food products into pockets which comprises a plurality of food manifold outlets with knives which sequentially block and open to portion food products into pockets in accordance with signals from a programmable logic controller.